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Issued by tKe CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

of Red Bluff; E. D. Gardner, Prest. 

"W. C. Spann, Secy. 



Jj^eKama Q^oianty 



IN 



Northern California 
1903 



AA'^ritten and Compilecl by 

W. C. SPANN 



Prirjted by 

THe "W^hitaKer CO- Ray Company 

(Incorporated) 

723 MarKet St. 
San Francisco, Cal. 



IN EXCHANGH 







Are you content to live the remainder of your life 
where the snows and ice and cold winds of winter keep the 
mercury hovering around the zero mark — often below ; or 
where the sultry, humid atmosphere of summer makes life 
almost unbearable ; where the gentle cyclone leaves devasta- 
tion and ruin in its path? If you are, then a perusal of these 
pages will be as so much time thrown away. 

But if you would live where the climate is mild in win- 
ter and by no means oppressive in summer; where cyclones 
and sunstrokes are unknown, and where 365 good nights" 
rest can be had each year ; where the scenery is unsur- 
passed ; where the orange and fig, the lemon and lime, the 
olive and grape and all other fruits grow in profusion ; 
where the school system is perfect and the Christian religion 
is adhered to in all that it takes to make a law-abiding. 
.prci^p(:to.us. an4..c,ontented people, then we would advise 
'.yonitbiriiad careJijJfy,: what is here presented. 



ti:hama county, California 

The Sierra Nevada Range of Mountains lie lengthwise 
in the State, and form its eastern border. They extend from 
northwest to southeast. The Coast Range, from northeast 
to southwest. At the convergence of the two ranges is Mt, 
Shasta, rising to an elevation of 14,442 feet, whose summit 
is covered with perpetual snow. To the south and west 
from Mt. Shasta for 140 miles are lower mountains and foot- 
hills, seven and eight thousand feet high, heavily timbered, 
protecting the lowlands from the Arctic blasts. Here we 
find the north line of Tehama County, which extends from 
the summit of the Sierras on the east to the summit of the 
Coast Range on the west, a distance of 78 miles, and here 
begins the Sacramento Valley, down which 38 miles is the 
south line of the County running east to west, giving an 
'area of 3,200 square miles or 2,000,000 acres. The agricul- 
tural land is given at 700,000 acres ; grazing land at 800,000 
acres and timbered or forest land at 500,000 acres. It has a 
cosmopolitan population of 12,000. Every State in the 
Union and many foreign countries are represented within 
its borders. 

At the base of Mt. Shasta are numerous springs, the 
clear, cold waters of which unite and flow southward 
through a canyon, gathering force and volume by the ad- 
dition of numerous mountain streams tributary to it, until 
it reaches this valley, where it is recognized as the Sacra- 
mento River. It is navigable for steamboats to Red Bluff, 
the county seat of this (Tehama) County, which is 200 miles 
north of San Francisco and 120 miles north of Sacramento, 
the Capital of the State. 

Tehama County is bounded by Shasta County on the 
north ; Plumas and Butte on the east ; Butte and Glenn on 
the south and Mendocino and Trinity on the west. 

SCENERY 

The scenery in this county is not surpassed elsewhere 
in California. The beautiful, the picturesque and the grand 



M^:^^>, 




'iMiS. 



M orthern California 



are so blended as at once to challenge the admiration of the 
beholder. 

The landscapes are paragons of rural lovliness. The 
parks of great oaks dotting the hills and scattered over the 
plains; the orchards and vineyards and patches of alfalfa 
with their perpetual verdue ; the large flocks of sheep, herds 
of cattle, and bands of horses here and there to be seen, 
present a picture that few other localities can equal. 

CL I MATE 

The following table is taken from the U. S. Weather 
Bureau report for 1902, and is here presented to show our 
climatic conditions as compared with those of Los Angeles 
and Southern California : 







Degree 


in 




Sky 








Fahrenheit 






























s 


a 


>. 


3 




s 










CO ^ 

















04 a 







M 


J3 




>, 


s" 


« 






M 


& 




OjQ 


fc'2 


uP. 




W 


a 1 hJ 




8 


%'^ 


Xi 










H 


3 


§u 












3 

S5 


Z 


^ 


iz; 


L,os Angeles 


293 
307 


94 
115 


32 
28 


35 
85 


124 
194 


198 
84 


43 

87 


Red Bluff 





Owing' to the peculiarities of topography, latitude does 
not here control the climate, the conditions of which have 
no parallel in the world. Our climate is, perhaps, our most 
famous glory. It has given us our wonderful fruits and 
flowers, and is a help and a blessing to every form of in- 
dustry. In the climate of Tehama County one can work out 
of doors every day in the year. The summer heat is dry 
and sunstrokes are unknown. The thermometer may read 
110 degrees, but owing to the dry atmosphere, the efifect 
upon the body produces less., discomfort than would be felt 
in a humid atmosphere at 90 degrees. In other words, 
there are about 20 degrees between the "sensible" tempera- 
ture and the actual reading of the thermometer. 



Tehama County 



People of the Atlantic Coast and Northern States, 
where there is six months of snow and blizzards, never 
dream that Tehama County, situated on parallel 40 degrees, 
north, is blessed with perpetual summer, where the fig and 
olive, the orange and lemon and the vine grow to perfection. 

The altitude of the valley and foothill lands of Tehama 
County is from 300 to 700 feet above sea level. We have but 
two seasons, the wet and the dry. As soon as the rain com- 
mences in October, the grass begins to grow, and by the 
first of December the country is covered with a green car])et 
of vegetation. In October and November most of the plant- 
ing and sowing is done. The thermometer seldom falls 
lower than 30 degrees above zero. Snow can be seen on the 
mountains but seldom falls in the valley. During January 
vegetation begins to assume the appearance of spring. 
Trees put forth their bloom and grass and grain grow rap- 
idly. Grain can be sown in this month and even in March 
and produce very well. 

THE SOIL 

Tehama County embraces some of the finest soils in 
the State. They are mainly alluvial and volcanic in origin. 
The Sacramento River, or its ancient predecessor has de- 
posited on either bank wide stretches of rich alluvium. 
On the east side is a dark brown, almost black, sandy loam 
many feet in depth. On the west bank the plain of tillable 
land is wider. The soil on this side is, in considerable part, 
of a reddish tinge. The chief characteristics are the loamy 
river lands. 

The bottoms along the different creeks that fiow into 
the river have their several peculiarities; but the usual soil, 
especially on the west side of the valley, is a yellowish 
alluvium, the area being generally not very wide and join- 
ing more elevated benches. The different grades of soil 
will be viewed by different persons with widelv varving 
opinions respecting their merits for profitable culture ; yet 
there is very little doubt that all the soils, from the river 
bottom to the coarsest gravelly hills, will be found available 
for some kind of husbandrv. 



Northern California 



There is but very little of these lands that do not show 
a natural growth of trees and grass, indicating a soil ready 
to reward the intelligent cultivator. Large crops of grain, 
yielding as high as forty and more bushels to the acre, both 
on the bottom, the adobe hills and the hills between, have 
demonstrated the fertility of all classes of the soil. This 
feature of Tehama County has made it one of the most pros- 
perous counties in the State. It has become so from its own 
intrinsic merits. Xo external effort has been made to bol- 
ster up or create a fictitious progress. Indeed the citizens 
have not even taken the trouble to make known the re- 
sources that have given them their wealth. But their ad- 
vantages were too great not at length to attract outside 
attention, and repeated suggestions to them have induced 
them to throw open the avenues of their prosperity. 

STOCn RAISING 

Tehama County is particularly well adapted to cattle 
and sheep raising. Comprising as it does almost limitless 
mountain stock ranges, over which stock can be grazed dur- 
ing the summer months to good advantage, and when snow 
appears on the mountains our area of valley lands afford 
plenty of feed, and owing to the mildness of the winter cli- 
mate stock men need have no fear of loss by reason of 




HAULING WOOL TO MARKET, RET) BLUFF 



8 Tehama County 

blizzards and extreme cold weather, such as are frequent 
and occasion much loss in other great stock sections. 

In this county there are two hundred thousand sheep 
that are moved in the spring to the mountain ranges and 
return in the autumn to the valleys and foothills for winter 
pasturage. Twelve thousand head of cattle are similarly 
handled, and so all the lands of the county are utilized. 

For feed, sheep owners look entirely to providence, the 
native grasses being especially suitable to sheep. Flocks 
increase rapidly, the percentage averaging ninety of the 
ewes, while often, from the profusion of twin lambs, the 
increase will reach one hundred and twenty per cent. 
Sheep bearing wool sell from $2.50 per head up; lambs at 
about $1.25. 

In Red Blufif the wool product of spring and fall is 
stored, and buyers from other portions of the State are visi- 
tors during the storing season. It is estimated that one-fifth 
of the wool crop of the State finds a market in Red Blufif, and 
in selling time the competition for "clips" is often brisk and 
spirited. At the beginning and close of the summer season, 
thousands of sheep are on the move from and to the moun- 
tains in all parts of the county. 

The annual wool crop of Tehama County is about one 
million eight hundred thousand pounds. Wool brought to 
Red Blufif from other counties and stored for sale or ship- 
ment annually amounts to eight hundred thousand pounds. 

RIVHR TRANSPORTATION 

Red Bluff is the head of navigation on the Sacramento 
River, and steam boats make regular weekly trips from 
Sacramento to this point. As a result freight rates are very 
reasonable. The average monthly shipment to this place 
is about 1500 tons. Of this amount 700 tons are for Red 
Bluff and fully eight hundred tons are reshipped by rail or 
teams to points- in Shasta, Lassen, Trinity, Plumas and 
Siskiyou Counties, and southern Oregon. The character of 
this freight is general merchandise, mill and mining ma- 
chinery. Each boat has a return cargo of wool, grain. 



M orthe rn California 




STEAMBOAT LANDING AT RED BLUFF, CALIFORNIA 

HEAD OF NAVIGATION ON THE 

SACRAMENTO RIVER 



lumber, hides and dried fruits brought by teams from outly- 
ing districts. 

FRU I T 

With all of our great advantages we can boast without 
stint of our capabilities in the production of fruit, all in the 
open air, asking and needing no protection from the weather 
or climate. One grand advantage we possess, unlike our 
southern neighbors, is, that our fruits all grow without ir- 
rigation, requiring no care other than good cultivation, a 
requisite also, where irrigation is necessary. 

Growth is not vexed by low temperatures and the grow- 
ing season is twice the length of the ordinary summer east 
of the Rocky mountains. This naturally makes large fruit 
and a ripening season free from rain gives it peculiar 
beauty and quality. All the fruits of the temperate zone 
grow well and the yield is abundant in Tehama County. 

All variety of grapes can be abundantly and profitably 
grown here. For the cultivation of the raisin grape our soil 
rivals the very best in the State. Much attention is given to 
the cultivation of prunes, which is one of the chief products 



Tehama County 



of the county, as well as one of the most profitable. Irriga- 
tion is not necessary to the growing of choice fruits in this 
county. 

Developments of the past few years have proven that 
the foothill lands are especially well adapted to growing 
fruit, particularly those above enumerated ; and oranges 
hold as firm as any. These facts have convinced our land 
owners that citrus fruits are adapted to this county. They 
grow with but little care, there being no need of protection 
from climatic influences. They ripen from four to eight 
weeks earlier and possess better color and flavor than the 
oranges of the southern portion of the State. There are but 
few homes in Tehama County without orange trees, and the 
number is being increased every year. 

Figs are remarkably productive in this county, often 
three crops maturing a year. They are easily grown, a few 
years developing a large tree from an ordinary slip. 

Apples do not prosper so well on the valley lands as they 
do in the foothills and mountains. Apples from the uplands 
of Tehama County are as good as the best grown in Oregon 
for taste, flavor and color, and are better in size and will 
keep for months after picking. In the mountains, apples 
ripen as early as May, and keep ripening through the var- 
ious varieties until about the first of November. Wliat is 
known as "Manton District," lying about thirty miles nortli 
and east of Red Bluff, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada 
mountains is coming rapidly to the front in the production 
of apples, and the quality of this fruit raised there is second 
to none raised in the State. 

Tehama County is really the home of the Bartlett Pear. 
This fruit grows to large size and is of excellent flavor. The 
acreage is not so large as that of the peach or prune, but the 
pear will yield a revenue to its owner of from $250 to $300 
per acre, when pro])erly cared for. 

Concerning the abundant yield and profit of the Bartlett 
Pear in this county, I here refer to one orchard. That of 
D. S. Cone five miles east of Red Bluff. In 1900 he received 
$29,500 for the product of 100 acres of Bartlett Pears — 
nearly $300 per acre. Porter Bros. Company, through their 



Northern California 



agent, H. P. Stice, were the purchasers. This is but one of 
the many instances occurring each year to prove fruit rais- 
ing a successful industry in Tehama County. 

Large oHve orchards are to be seen in the different parts 
of the county. Walnuts and chestnuts are common, while 
magnolias, acacias, oleanders, palms and Japanese persim- 
mons are seen, to a greater or less extent, -in all gardens, and 
we see in the same vicinity the eucalyptas, elm, locust, pine, 
mulberry and poplar. 

Where under the sun can such a variety of climatic ex- 
tremes, as shown above, be seen? 

HON. chaunci:y m. depew. 

Than whom there is no more keen and practical ob- 
server, said of his visit to California : 

"We found ourselves in a country of magnificent futures, 
of boundless resources, of unexampled prospects. Though 
proud of a vocabulary that had never before staggered when 
confronted by the necessities of manifold occasions, I found 
the English language too poor to portray the glories of 
California. Here is a country destined to drive Italy and 
the world out of oranges, lemons, olives, prunes, and wines. 
Here is a land that will rejuvenate the worn-out pilgrim 
from the far East. 

"We, in the East, do not know California, or appreciate 
the wonderful future that is before it. There is a State with 
a population of a million and a half that is as great in area 
as France, with its 35,000,000 people. The people are the 
most prosperous and hospitable in the world. I am not 
speaking of the cities, but all through California you see no 
poverty. Ten acres will support a family, I was told. Fruit- 
farming is a way the land is utilized to achieve such re- 
sults." 

Florida, with her oranges ; France with her grape vines ; 
the East with its peaches and apples — we can excel all in 
their best productions in Tehama County. And still with 
700,000 acres of tillable lands, we have but about 12,000 men, 
women and children to occupy them. Tehama County of- 



Northern California 13 



fers good land at a reasonable figure, and on most reason- 
able terms ; it ofifers a wide range of products and a corres- 
pondingly great variety of industries ; it ofifers scenery sec- 
ond to none in the world ; it ofifers water and water-power 
in great abundance ; it offers immense forests of superb com- 
mercial timber; it offers a stable government and good so- 
ciety; it offers good churches and first-class public schools. 

With these attractions Tehama County offers her match- 
less climate, which enables man to live without consuming 
in the winter what he produces in the summer. 

The same investment of money, muscle and manage- 
ment, coupled with the same habits of economy that are 
necessary to secure a home in any other State of the Union, 
will secure a better one in Tehama County, California. 

The following statistics is based upon the crop of 1902: 

Peaches ripen from May to November ; amount pro- 
duced, green, 40,000,000 pounds ; dried, 8,000,0000 pounds. 

Prunes ripen from August to October ; amount produced, 
green, 5,000,000 pounds ; dried, 2,500,000 pounds. All 
shipped in dried state. 

Bartlett Pears ripen from July to November; amount 
produced, green, 5,000,000 pounds. Nearly all of this crop 
is shipped green to Eastern and European markets and are 
known the world over for their excellent flavor and keeping 
qualities. 

Apricots ripen from June to November ; amount pro- 
duced, green, 1,500,000 pounds; dried, 300,000 pounds. A 
large portion of this crop is shipped direct to Europe. 

Almonds ripen from July to September; amount pro- 
duced, 250,000 pounds. 

Oranges and lemons do well and can be seen on the trees 
every month during the year. 

Vegetables of all kind known to the temperate zone, 
grow abundantly in Tehama County. 

Strawberries ripen from April to December, raspberries 
from May to October, blackberries from June to September. 

Average price paid for fruits and nuts for the past five 
years : 



14 Tehama County 



Per lb. Dried Green. 

Peaches 4 to 8c i to 2c 

Prunes 2 to 5c i to 2c 

Pears 4 to loc i to 2c 

Apricots 5 to IOC i to 2c 

Almonds 6 to 15c i to 2c 

Walnuts 8 to 14c i to 2c 

Peanuts 4 to 8c i to 2c 

Average yield of fruits and nuts, per acre, from $100 to 
$300, and in many instances one acre has yielded $500 to 
$1000. 

About three-fourths of the peach and apricot and four- 
fifths of the prune crops are dried, which creates a great de- 
mand for labor. The first two named, are cut in halves and 
laid on trays which are placed in rows on the "drying 
grounds." The genial rays of the sun by day and the dry 
atmosphere of night will cure it perfectly in from two to 
four days. There were employed in the orchards of Tehama 
County during the summer and fall of 1902, five thousand 
men, women, girls and boys at good wages, and the de- 
mand for help was far greater than the supply. 

Tehama County stands well in the front rank of grain 
producing counties of the State. On the lands devoted to 
grain about 1,500,000 bushels of wheat, oats and barley are 
raised, on an average, annually. The greater portion of this 
is shipped away, yet thousands of bushels find a ready mar- 
ket at home. The major portion of this product is grown 
south of Red Bluff along the banks of the river; in the pro- 
ductive "Bald Hills," west of town, and on the plains west 
of the river, between it and the foothills. The average pro- 
duct of the county, for a number of years, was 20 bushels of 
wheat and 30 bushels of barley and oats per acre. Near 
Tehama 45 bushels of wheat to the acre have been har- 
vested, and in the same locality, 30 bushels is a common 
yield. 

Besides grain, about thirty thousand tons of grain hay 
is harvested, annually. Along the river and some of its 
tributaries alfalfa has been grown to some extent and four 
crops of this hay has been harvested each season, averag- 



M o rt he rn California 



H 



ing three tons to the acre, which always commands a good 
price m home market. 

Thorough cultivation is the rule. The cost of preparing 
and seeding the ground averaging three dollars, and harvest- 
ing about as much more. 

Hay produced in this county is of an unusual good 
quality. About a ton to the acre is the average, although the 
yield in many places is enormous. 

Wild oats and wheat are usually sown together, and the 
crop harvested just before it turns. It lies in windrows until 
cured, then bunched, and later on stacked in five and ten 
ton stacks. Loose hay, of this kind, sells for $8.00 to $15.00 
per ton. When baled, it brings from $12.00 to $18.00 per ton. 

B EBT SUGAR 

A new, most important and promising industry in Te- 
hama County is the raising of sugar beets. It is shown that 
beets grown on our lands contain a higher percentage of 
sugar than those of any other section. During the season 
of 1901 beets were harvested near Tehama that contained 
the extraordinary amount of 25 per cent, in sugar. This is 
an industry that bids fair to play an important part in our 
agricultural history for the following reasons : Earlier ma- 
turity of the beets ; earlier opening on the sugar making 




FRUIT PACKING HOLSE OF PORTER BROS. 
RED BLUFF, CAL. 



i6 Tehama County 



campaign ; longer season for harvesting ; longer run of the 
factory ; greater yield per acre ; greater percentage of sugar ; 
immunity from frost and rain at critical periods. These are 
some of the climatic advantages which experience and 
scientific experiments have established. 

WATER FOR IRRIGATION 

Tehama County is the most abundantly watered county 
in the State. The large rainfall in the valley, coupled with 
the fact that great areas have been in single holdings, de- 
voted to wheat growing or stock raising has in former years 
not only retarded diversity of products, but has contributed 
to the erroneous belief that irrigation was neither desirable 
or necessary, and irrigation has not been much resorted to. 
Wheat growing having become less profitable, attention is 
being directed to more diversified culture, and plans for 
more general irrigation are being considered, since it has 
been found that even on our best lands water is a distinctive 
source of general production and makes agriculture more 
profitable, by adding many new products to the farm. Ir- 
rigation is practiced in some parts of our county and the 
results have given unmistakable proof of the advantages 
gained thereby, both in quantity and quality of the product, 
and with the facilities at hand, it can be extensively prac- 
ticed at a trifling cost. 

TIMBER SUPPLY 

There is an abundant timber supply all over this county. 
There is no township but what has timber for fuel and there 
are sections of Tehama County which have some of the 
largest forest growths on this continent. All along the 
streams are cottonwoods, sycamores, alders, oaks and white 
maples. On the valley land bordering the Sacramento 
River, on both sides, there are large areas of oak parks, 
containing many trees of astonishing size. In parts of the 
higher lands of the valley these oak parks are also found. 
On the Coast Range there are fine timber growths, mostly 
pine, fir and spruce. It is in the Sierra Nevada Range, how- 
ever, that the great forest belt of the county is situated. 



M o rthern California 



17 



There, in a belt fifteen miles wide and forty miles long in Te- 
hama County, are forest growths unexcelled in America. 
There is lumber, not only for use of the whole county, but 
millions of feet are exported annually. 

The homeseeker can find no spot in Tehama County 
where he will not be within easy reach of timber for fuel 
and for all purposes of building and fencing. In this respect 
he will find a marked contrast to very many portions of 
Southern California, where timber is from 70 to 100 miles 
distant. 

HEALTHFULNEISS 

There is no consideration of so much importance to 
those seeking homes as the healthfulness of the locality they 
select. It is not the intention to convey, or attempt to con- 




FELLING TIMBER IN EASTERN TEHAMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 



i8 Tehama County 

vey, to the mind of the reader that we have no sickness or 
deaths in Tehama County, but I do claim that the general 
health of our people is far better than that of any county in 
the great Sacramento Valley. Situated as we are, at the ex- 
treme head of the valley, with an altitude of 370 feet above 
sea level, protected from cold winds of the north, east and 
west by the two great mountain ranges, we have a most 
equable climate, which is the first and most important factor 
of health. 

Drs. J. M. West and J. A. ( )\ven, two of the leading 
physicians of Tehama County, unite in saying that all the 
elements of climate so essential to health exists in almost 
perfect degree in Tehama County, and the experience of 
physicians, who have practiced medicine in this county for 
twenty years or more verify the conclusions drawn from 
hygiene, and meteorology. Malarial diseases have prevailed 
to a limited extent along the alluvial lands where streams 
are subject to overflow during the rainy season, but culti- 
vation of these lands and clearing the dense undergrowth 
of vegetation from the belts of timber along the streams are 
rapidly causing them to disappear. 

Diseases arising from malaria in the above localities are 
of a mild type and easily arrested. Epidemic diseases have 
been of rare occurrence, and are so modified by climatic 
influences that they have lost their malignancy. ]\Ieasles 
and whooping-cough are so mild in type, and complications 
of the respiratory organs so infrequent, that physicians are 
rarely called to treat them. Typhoid fever is of rare oc- 
currence. In twelve years we have not treated a dozen 
cases in the county. 

We also have "natural" physicians in the shape of min- 
eral springs which furnish waters of rare medicinal qualities. 
To the west of Red BlulT thirty miles, at an altitude of 
5,000 feet, in the Coast Range, is Colyear's Springs, whose 
health giving waters are freely enjoyed during the summer 
months by hundreds of people who go there to enjoy the 
hunting and fishing, as well as to recuperate physical weak- 
ness. 

Then to the east some fifty miles, at the foot of Mount 



Northern California 19 



Lassen, in the Sierra Nevada Range, is Morgan's Springs, 
another famous summer resort which is visited by hosts 
of people who go to enjoy the heated term in "camping out," 
and feasting on fish and game. There is an excellent op- 
portunity for some enterprising man of capital, at either of 
the above springs, to build up a fashionable summer resort, 
and it is safe to say that the opportunity will not be open a 
great while longer, for it is only necessary for a shrewd 
business man to see either of these springs to realize the 
splendid opportunity they offer for the investment of capital. 

Tuscan Springs are situated nine miles northeast of Red 
Bluff, at the head of Little Salt Creek Canyon, in a basin 
formed by an extinct crater. On either side, rising to a 
height of from three to four hundred feet, are huge volcanic 
rocks, forming a rim of about six hundred feet in diameter, 
providing a natural shelter from winds. The springs num- 
ber nearly fifty, and are found in an area of about ten acres, 
at an elevation of 900 feet above sea level. The rim sur- 
rounding this basin breaks away to the southwest, per- 
mitting the waters to escape in that direction. The springs 
and the mud that exudes from them are used medicinally, 
and have a reputation for the cure of rheumatism, kidney 
and liver disorders, and all blood and skin diseases. The 
waters are exceptional in their character, containing 3 
grains lithia, 6 grains iodine, 25 grains soda, magnesia, 
borax, potassium, sodium and sulphur. The latter is found 
in and around the springs in red and yellow sulphur. 

After a careful analysis of Tuscan waters by competent 
chemists, and able physicians of San Francisco, they are 
pronounced among the best in the United States for the 
cure of every form of skin and blood derangements the 
human system is heir to. This has been verified by the 
thousands that have been made well by their use. 

A large and commodious hotel has been erected the past 
season, with airily constructed towers at either end, and 
wide verandas extending all around, with accommodations 
for two hundred guests. The climate is very agreeable all 
the year and infrequent are the days when the man of health 
can not be out of doors. Likewise, few are the days when 



20 Tehama County 

the invalid can not be out breathing the fresh and healing 
air, thereby regaining more rapidly his health and strength. 
At Tuscan Springs one can enjoy good and refreshing sleep 
365 nights in the year. Both weak and strong must become 
stronger. And here Tehama County, through Tuscan 
Springs, supplies the conditions necessary for a long, health- 
ful and happy life. 

ED U C ATI ON A L 

Tehama County claims a place, educationally, among 
the foremost counties of the State. 

During the past ten years, the public schools of Tehama 
County have shown much uniformity in progress. The 
steady growth, no doubt, is largely due to the fact that we 
have a greater number of trained teachers throughout the 
County ; that our County Institutes have, for the most part, 
been conducted by superior instructors and lecturers ; and 
that our schools are carefully graded — pupils of the high 
grammar grade being required to pass an examination given 
by the County Board before being admitted to high school. 

Though the average length of term of our grammar 
schools throughout the county is shorter than it promises 
to be in the near future, yet our manual of study has been 
arranged and followed with such care that our graduates 
from the grammar department of the rural districts, as well 
as those of the town schools, have proven themselves cap- 
able of entering upon the work of the high schools and the 
normal schools with equal rank and ability of pupils from 
some of the more southern counties that are favored with 
longer terms. 

Our Red Bluff High School, which has been recognized 
by the State University of California as being fully accred- 
ited, is under the direction of superior university teachers 
and a principal of excellent executive ability. 

Within the past few years our High School has been a 
strong incentive to the graduates of the grammar schools to 
strive for higher educational attainments. There are four 
teachers in the High School and an enrollment of about 



Northern California 



eighty pupils. The length of the school term is nine and 
one-half months. 

At the election held 5th of June, this year, at Corning, the 
proposition was submitted and carried by a large majority, 
to create a high school district, composed of eleven school 
districts in the southern part of the county. The proposi- 
tion met with favor in all the districts interested. The 
school will be conducted at Corning. In 1892 the school 
census report of Corning showed an enrollment of only 67 
school, children, instructed by two teachers. In igoi the 
school census showed an enrollment of 321 census children 
of school age, with six teachers employed — an increase of 
254 pupils and four teachers in nine years. 

The Red Bluff grammar and primary schools are well 
graded, and the majority of the instructors are teachers of 
much experience, while a number of them are normal and 



y 




GRAMMAR AND HIGH SCHOOL HOUSE 
RED BLUFF, CALIFORNIA 



22 Tehama County 

university trained teachers. The l)uihhn_f;s are lar^e and 
well furnished and the groiutds are suitably improved. The 
school has an enrollment of 790 ptipils, with eleven teachers 
to instruct. 

The towns of Teliama and \'ina deserve mention for the 
special interest their citizens are taking in their public 
schools. For a number of years, their teachers have ranked 
among the best grammar school teachers in the State. Te- 
hama has an excellent two-story school building, with well 
improved school grounds adorped with many large decidu- 
ous and evergreen trees. 

Antelope, which is a few miles east of, and across the 
Sacramento River from Red Bluff can boast of one of the 
finest country district school houses in the State. It is a 
modern two-story building, neatly furnished and the 
grounds are tastefully adorned with trees. 

There are sixty-six districts in our county and eighty- 
two teachers employed. The school census report of 1901 
shows that 2448 pupils were enrolled in the public schools 
of Tehama County last term. 

In addition to our public school system, there are four 
private schools. 

The Academy of Our Lady of Mercy, which is of Cath- 
olic denomination, was established in 1881. Pupils receive 
instructions in all school branches from the kindergarten to 
the high school ; also in music, painting and needle work. 

There are sixty students enrolled in the Convent school. 
The private kindergarten in Red Blufif, an excellent school 
of its kind, is conducted by Mrs. Harte. The length of the 
school term is nine months and the average daily attend- 
ance is about twenty-three. 

The Seventh Day Advent school, which was established 
in Red Blufif in 1900, has an enrollment of twenty pupils. 

A private high school was established in Corning during 
the past winter with an enrollment of eleven students. It 
is under the supervision of an excellent instructor, who is a 
university graduate and who has had many years' experi- 
ence in high school work. 



M o rthern. California 23 



OUR LUMBER INTERIISTS 

One of the largest sash and door factories in Northern 
California is located on the east side of the Sacramento 
River at Red Bluff. It is the property of the Sierra Lumber 
Company, who own thousands of acres of the finest yellow 
and sugar pine timber in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 
Their sawmills are located about forty miles east of Red 
Bluff at Lyonsville, in this county, where the logs are con- 
verted into lumber and shipped by flume to their yard and 
factory here at the rate of 15,000,000 feet annually. The 
greater part of this is manufactured into doors, sash, blinds 
and fruit boxes, besides the finest ornamental work for 
buildings. They make 100,000 doors annually which find 
a ready market in the East, in Australia, Hawaii and the 
Philippine Islands. Their trade in fruit boxes is for the 
orchards in California and extends south as far as San 
Diego and the orange groves of Pasadena and Los Angeles. 
At their yard and factory here they employ over one hun- 
dred and fifty men and boys all the year. At their mills in 
the mountains, they employ nearly two hundred men nine 
months of the year. Their payroll reaches $200,000 an- 
nually. They ship millions of feet in carload lots to various 
points by rail. They are well equipped with facilities for 
such shipments, having railroad tracks with numerous 
switches in their yard and their own locomotive that trans- 
fers the cars to and from the main line of the Southern Pa- 
cific road. The Sacramento River is spanned at this place 
by a magnificent steel bridge with foot walk and wagon 
drive. LTpon this is also the track over which the Sierra 
Lumber Company transfer their cars to and from the rail- 
road on the west side. 

SMYRNA riG or COMMERCE 

The soil and climate of California makes it the home of 
the fig; two, and frequently three crops maturing in a sea- 
son. The varieties are many but the best and most de- 
licious figs when dried are those from Smyrna, known in the 
market as Smyrna Figs. 

Mr. W. H. Samson, who is owner of a large nursery near 



M o rthe rn California 25 



Corning, is a young man, almost a native of the county, who 
has made horticuhure a study for the past ten years, and it 
is to his efforts of patient research and experiment that 
the Smyrna fig mystery of this county has at last been re- 
vealed. As a result it is confidently believed that the grow- 
ing of this splendid fruit will become one of our leading in- 
dustries at no distant day. An account of the discovery and 
revelations made by Mr. Samson, concerning the successful 
propagation and growing of Smyrna figs in this county, 
will not be out of place here, and will give information to 
those of our orchardists who desire to grow a delicious and 
highly merchantable fruit. 

The trees imported by Senator Stanford some years ago 
were the genuine commercial Smyrna fig, but all of the 
"female" kind, whose bloom and bud would put forth regu- 
larly each season, and the young fig Avould form and bid fair 
to do well, but owing to the lack of certain fertilization for 
the bloom and young fruit, it would wither and fall from 
the tree. This fertilization consists of the pollen from the 
flowers or fruit of another or male tree, which is trans- 
mitted by a peculiar insect technically known as blasto- 
phaga. This insect germinates in the fruit of the male 
trees, which is known as the wild or Capri fig. It is said to 
grow wild in the mountain regions of Smyrna, and is of no 
value only to furnish fertility for the edible Smyrna fig, 
which, without it, would not mature. The Capri, or wild 
fig. was also imported to this State, and while visiting some 
of the nurseries in the southern part of the State, Mr. Sam- 
son procured several cuttings of the Capri fig besides some 
of the figs grown on Capri trees which had the live insects 
m them. He at once began experimenting with this insect 
fruit on the Smyrna trees of the Stanford Ranch, by con- 
fining the insect figs in the branches of the edible fig trees. 
The result was all that he could hope for, and he at once 
secured the exclusive right to take cuttings from the Stan- 
ford trees and place them in his nursery, thereby giving him 
the only Smyrna tree plants in Northern California, and 
having the insect fruit cuttings also, he is prepared to fur- 



26 Tehama County 



nish a Smyrna \'\^ orchard on a guarantee of abundant 
yield of that high priced and much sought for fruit. 

CORNING AND MAYWOOD COLONY 

The writer visited the southern portion of Tehama 
County recently collecting data for this pamphlet, and 
while at Corning and JMaywood he requested a friend to aid 
him with a write-up of the two places. The following brief 
description is the result. It is not out of place here to state 
that the two gentlemen spoken of as being "out of a job" in 
1891, is none other than the public-spirited, wide-awake real 
estate men, Hon. C. F. Foster and W. N. Woodson, who. by 
their energy and enterprise, have added thousands of dollars 
to the taxable wealth of Tehama Count}^ besides largely in- 
creasing her population. Of a truth it may be said they 
have "caused the desert to bloom," for the land occupied 
by Maywood Colony is a succession of beautiful homes, 
where peace, prosperity and contentment prevails : 

"Strange, isn't it, to what commonplace circumstances 
some important places owe their origin ? Take Corning for 
instance. Along in 1891 a couple of men found themselves 
out of a job — one having served out a term in the California 
Legislature and the other a term as Postmaster at Red 
Bluff. Said the ex-Postmaster, "I believe there is a market 
among Easterners for California land in small lots." The 
ex-Senator replied. "I know where the land is — the right 
kind of land that can be had at the right price and on the 
right terms." "All right," responded the retired Nasby ; 
and so the ex-Senator forthwith bought about $100,000 
worth of land lying around the town of Corning, and to 
legalize the deal paid down, in cash, the munificent sum of 
ONE DOLLAR. That was about the amount of surplus in 
the treasury of the newly-formed trust, and a trust it cer- 
tainly was. for everything had to be bought on trust, and in 
the future they had to trust for business by which to pro- 
vide the small ( ?) balance of $99,999 still due on land ac- 
count. But by luck or judgment they tapped the tide at 
the flood, and prosperity has been flowing their way ever 
since. To their business they gave the name Maywood — 



M o rthern California 27 



Maywood Colony — and in their minds there rests not a 
doubt but that there is something in a name ; for their 
Maywood Colony has drawn to it, from all parts of the 
earth, money in excess of three millions of dollars, and peo- 
ple to the number of about three thousand. And the end 
is not yet. 

In 1891 Corning was but a wheat-loading station of a 
size scarcely sufficient to hold its place on the railway time- 
table. Its support came from a few farmers round about 
who, for reasons unknown to themselves or anybody else, 
had borrowed from San Francisco and Sacramento banks 
from $10 to $20 per acre on their farms, and who were then 
engaged in the strenuous struggle of making their wheat 
crops meet their interest payments. Some were able to 
keep up the interest account, but none made any progress 
in cutting down the principal. And so it was that these 
farmers were willing to sell their land, or rather their in- 
terest in it, to the promoters of Maywood Colony. 

Corning of to-day has forgotten how it looked ten years 
ago, so numerous have been the changes. And now, as 
hustling and promising a place as Corning is, she is but the 
tail of the dog — Maywood Colony. Corning is simply the 
trading shop for Maywood. Without Maywood, Corning 
would close up in thirty days. Without Corning. Maywood 
would build another town in thirty days. Maywood has 
made Corning, and Coming's prosperity and continued 
growth depend upon Maywood's future. Maywood Colony 
is growing and will continue to grow and so will Corning. 

THi: TOWN OF TEHAMA 

Is situated on the Sacramento River at the junction of 
the railroads on the east and west sides. It is twelve miles 
south of Red Bluff, the county seat, eight miles north of 
Vina and ten miles northeast from Corning. 

The present population is about four hundred. 

Tehama is situated in the heart of one of the richest 
farming sections of the State. Crops of all kinds grow 
abundantly. The rainfall is adequate to insure paying re- 
turns. Snow is a rare thing. Killing frosts are seldom 



M orthern California 29 



known. Foggy weather is scarce. In 1901 an experimental 
crop of sugar beets was planted on land near Tehama. 

The returns proved beyond question that Tehama lands 
are well adapted to beet culture. Some of the crop aver- 
aged over twenty tons per acre. The percentage of sugar 
was exceptionally high. It is probable that in the near 
future the industry will become permanent and a factory es- 
tablished in this vicinity. 

Alfalfa does well without irrigation. 

Vegetables thrive and about two hundred acres east of 
the river are devoted to this line. In 1901, fifty carloads of 
Irish potatoes, ten of sweet potatoes, six of beans, and five 
of peanuts were shipped north and south. Watermelons are 
also a paying crop. 

The fruit industry is extensive. About eight hundred 
acres are devoted to orchards of peaches, pears, prunes, apri- 
cots, figs and other fruits. 

The shipments of all products aside from fruit in 190T 
were as follows: Wheat, 75 carloads; mules, 15 carloads; 
cattle, 15 carloads; hay, 14 carloads; sheep, 11 carloads; 
hogs, 6 carloads ; vegetables, 82 tons. 

The Sacramento River at Tehama is spanned by a fine 
steel railroad drawbridge finished in 1902. Seven granite 
piers support the structure which is 850 feet long. The 
draw is 260 feet in length. This bridge is one of the finest 
west of the Mississippi. It is used by the county as a wagon 
bridge. 

Tehama is lighted by electricity furnished by the North- 
ern California Power Company. 

THE TOWN or VINA 

In the southern part of Tehama County, on the Southern 
Pacific Railroad, is situated the town of Vina. Here are the 
headquarters of the great Stanford Ranch, a body of some 
5000 acres of very fertile land. There are fully 4000 acres 
planted to grapes, making, it is claimed, the largest vine- 
yard in the world. Millions of gallons of wine and brandy 
are here manufactured each year, which find their way to 
market in England, France, Germany and other foreign 
countries. 



Northern California 31 



There are many orchards of deciduous and citrus fruits 
near Vina. The lands are rich and a bountiful yield is the 
result every year. The number of hands employed in the 
orchards near Vina, including the Stanford Ranch, during 
the harvesting season, is nearly 2000. Quite a large num- 
ber of these are kept the year round. 

Large bodies of our finest agricultural land have, until 
recently, been owned and operated by single holders. This 
system is no longer profitable, as the crops usually grown 
were grain, and owing to the steady falling off in price of all 
cereals, our large holders of land are sub-dividing their 
properties into ten and twenty-acre tracts, which brings 
them within the reach of the home-seeker of moderate 
means. On the east side of the Sacramento River from Red 
Bluff some 2000 acres of the choicest land in the count}' 
is being sub-divided and is placed on the market in small 
tracts. So if you are in search of a home and would 
engage in horticulture and sit under your own vine and fig 
tree, the chance of a life time to procure such is here offered. 
The soil is good ; water plentiful, the climate is all that 
could be wished. 

We extend a cordial invitation to the home-seeker and 
the home-maker, the merchant, the manufacturer, or the 
capitalist, who will find here a "land of promise,"" a com- 
munity of cvdture and refinement, and a place where boun- 
teous nature holds out a promise of rich reward to all who 
by ordinary thrift and industry invite success, and to such 
we offer the following information in condensed form : 

Sunstrokes are unknown. 

Water power is unexcelled. 

The hay harvest begins in June. 

Vegetables can be grown easily. 

The climate is very mild in winter. 

Earthquakes never visit this section. 

We have never had a failure of crops. 

The professions are well represented. 

Lightning and thunder are very unusual. 

Blizzards we never have, and frosts rarely. 

There is a steady increase in land cultivation. 



32 Tehama County 



Snow is a curiosity, except on the mountains. 

The rainy season is during the winter months. 

No one is advised to come without some means. 

Tehama County excels in table and raisin grapes. 

Fuel is plentiful and cheap — $3.00 to $4.00 per cord. 

Ample facilities are here for all kinds of manufactories. 

Land is cheaper here than in almost any county south 
of us. 

There are large bodies of foothill land suitable for fruit 
culture. 

As the foothills and moimtains are ascended, the climate 
becomes cooler. 

The average rainfall at Red Bluff for the past twelve 
years is 26 inches. 

Tehama County has a spacious Court House and a fire- 
proof Hall of Records. 

The mildness of the winter season is the great attrac- 
tion of life in this section. 

The price of land ranges from $5 to $100 per acre, de- 
pending upon location, quality and improvements. 

Farm wages are $25.00 per month during the winter 
season, and $35.00 during the summer season, with board. 

We have good roads and bridges. One of the finest 
bridges on the Coast spans the Sacramento River at Red 
Bluff. 

Irrigation is but little practiced, but there is abundance 
of water in all parts of the county for this purpose, for all 
who care to use it. 

To the home-seeker of intelligence, refinement and culti- 
vation, Tehama County oft'ers a share in all that has been 
enumerated, a place in a community of his own kind, ample 
opportunity for prospering with her prosperity — Greeting 
and Welcome. 

Address all Inqxiiries to 

ri:d bluff 

CHAMBER 

OF COMMERCi: 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



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